Wanna make some neat raytraced plots and maps in R? Lets get started with the rayrender and rayshader packages developed by Tyler Morgan Wall.

#We use another one of rayshader's built-in textures:
elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  plot_map()

#sphere_shade can shift the sun direction:
elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(sunangle = 45, texture = "desert") %>%
  plot_map()

#detect_water and add_water adds a water layer to the map:
elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  add_water(detect_water(elmat), color = "desert") %>%
  plot_map()

#And we can add a raytraced layer from that sun direction as well:
elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  add_water(detect_water(elmat), color = "desert") %>%
  add_shadow(ray_shade(elmat), 0.5) %>%
  plot_map()

elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  add_water(detect_water(elmat), color = "desert") %>%
  add_shadow(ray_shade(elmat), 0.5) %>%
  add_shadow(ambient_shade(elmat), 0) %>%
  plot_map()

elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  add_water(detect_water(elmat), color = "desert") %>%
  add_shadow(ray_shade(elmat, zscale = 3), 0.5) %>%
  add_shadow(ambient_shade(elmat), 0) %>%
  plot_3d(elmat, zscale = 10, fov = 0, theta = 135, zoom = 0.75, phi = 45, windowsize = c(1000, 800))
Sys.sleep(0.2)
render_snapshot()

elmat %>%
  sphere_shade(texture = "desert") %>%
  add_water(detect_water(elmat), color = "desert") %>%
  add_shadow(ray_shade(elmat, zscale = 3), 0.5) %>%
  add_shadow(ambient_shade(elmat), 0) %>%
  plot_3d(elmat, zscale = 10, fov = 30, theta = -225, phi = 25, windowsize = c(1000, 800), zoom = 0.3)
Sys.sleep(0.2)
render_depth(focus = 0.6, focallength = 200, clear = TRUE)

library(rayshader)
library(rayrender)
library(ggplot2)
library(reshape2)

ggdiamonds = ggplot(diamonds) +
  stat_density_2d(aes(x = x, y = depth, fill = stat(nlevel)), 
                  geom = "polygon", n = 100, bins = 10, contour = TRUE) +
  facet_wrap(clarity~.) +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(option = "A")

par(mfrow = c(1, 2))

plot_gg(ggdiamonds, width = 5, height = 5, raytrace = FALSE, preview = TRUE)
plot_gg(ggdiamonds, width = 5, height = 5, multicore = TRUE, scale = 250, 
        zoom = 0.7, theta = 10, phi = 30, windowsize = c(800, 800))
Sys.sleep(0.2)
render_snapshot(clear = TRUE)

#Contours and other lines will automatically be ignored. Here is the volcano dataset:
ggvolcano = volcano %>% 
  melt() %>%
  ggplot() +
  geom_tile(aes(x = Var1, y = Var2, fill = value)) +
  geom_contour(aes(x = Var1, y = Var2, z = value), color = "black") +
  scale_x_continuous("X", expand = c(0, 0)) +
  scale_y_continuous("Y", expand = c(0, 0)) +
  scale_fill_gradientn("Z", colours = terrain.colors(10)) +
  coord_fixed()

par(mfrow = c(1, 2))
plot_gg(ggvolcano, width = 7, height = 4, raytrace = FALSE, preview = TRUE)

plot_gg(ggvolcano, multicore = TRUE, raytrace = TRUE, width = 7, height = 4, 
        scale = 300, windowsize = c(1400, 866), zoom = 0.6, phi = 30, theta = 30)

Sys.sleep(0.2)

render_snapshot(clear = TRUE)

a = data.frame(x = rnorm(20000, 10, 1.9), y = rnorm(20000, 10, 1.2))
b = data.frame(x = rnorm(20000, 14.5, 1.9), y = rnorm(20000, 14.5, 1.9))
c = data.frame(x = rnorm(20000, 9.5, 1.9), y = rnorm(20000, 15.5, 1.9))
data = rbind(a, b, c)

#Lines
pp = ggplot(data, aes(x = x, y = y)) +
  geom_hex(bins = 20, size = 0.5, color = "black") +
  scale_fill_viridis_c(option = "C")

par(mfrow = c(1, 2))
plot_gg(pp, width = 5, height = 4, scale = 300, raytrace = FALSE, preview = TRUE)
plot_gg(pp, width = 5, height = 4, scale = 300, multicore = TRUE, windowsize = c(1000, 800))
render_camera(fov = 70, zoom = 0.5, theta = 130, phi = 35)
Sys.sleep(0.2)
render_snapshot(clear = TRUE)

par(mfrow = c(1, 1))
plot_gg(pp, width = 5, height = 4, scale = 300, multicore = TRUE, windowsize = c(1200, 960),
        fov = 70, zoom = 0.4, theta = 330, phi = 40)
Sys.sleep(0.2)
render_depth(focus = 0.68, focallength = 200)